How Successful Marketing Writers Plan Their Content

I never realized just how important it was to connect content with business goals until I had a particular conversation with a client.

The client, excited to get started on blog content together, had a running list of topics for me to cover.

But then something strange happened.

When I asked for background information on their content objectives (like potential CTAs, a list of targeted SEO keywords, etc.), I got this response:

“We don’t really have that stuff yet. We’re just kind of ‘winging it’ for now.”

For me, this was a major red flag.

This statement meant I’d need to pump the brakes and help the client get a few preliminary goals in place before I could dive into any project work.

The reason: Without them, we’d both be spinning our wheels and wasting each other’s time.

What happens when you don’t set business goals for content?

Too many times, I’ve tried to go along with the “just winging it” approach.

The problem is:

With no business goals in place, the content doesn’t do anything worthwhile for the client — and it makes me look bad. It makes me look like I don’t know how to do my job as a writer and experienced content marketer, despite the client’s wishes to “play it by ear.”

In my experience, without clear business goals for content, the writer has a much harder job as he tries to execute valuable, results-producing material.

Without any benchmarks to measure success, it’s extremely difficult to measure what’s working and what’s not — and there are no metrics to inform future decisions about topics, formats, etc.

At the same time, the business’s marketing budget gets squandered on lackluster content — and the content manager starts to get frustrated that there are no meaningful results to share with the leadership team. It’s lose-lose all around.

Why business goals matter when it comes to content

At the heart of “winging it,” there’s a major problem: It’s like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks. You’re 100 percent guessing at what to try (which rarely produces solid results.)

Business goals matter for content creation because they help make each post part of a larger, big-picture strategy.

When you have a plan in place and measurable objectives around the content you create, you can choose topics to write about in a much more strategic way.

Reader Comments (7)

I’ve come to realize the great majority of companies who use content don’t really understand why they do it (as Simon Sinek would say), or what they need to do to succeed with it. Others don’t know how much it will take until content starts to work, and some even don’t hire the right people to help them with their content creation.

At the end of the day, it’s our responsibility to inform them about all these things I’m mentioning and which you explained so well. I think most writers don’t do this digging, and that’s why they don’t get paid well or have their content perform.

Most of the time, I recommend companies work with an expert content strategist to iron all of these elements out–so that person does the survey part. But I know they get at least a moderate level of feedback, because often times they circle back with everything we need to get started.

Excellent analytical business strategies Kaleigh. A wise man once said ” Through wisdom a house (business)
is built and by understanding it is established. By knowledge the rooms ( your content) is filled With all precious and pleasant riches.
Proverbs 24:3-4;

Spot on! I find going through this process ends up as more of a business coaching session than just a marketing strategy session. I often find vanity metrics are what still drives some businesses so it’s good to clear that up from the start too.

Kaleigh, I love that you took the time to break this all down for everyone.

I have worked with clients who also chose the “winging it” approach. UGH. They are so hard to work with… until I point out the benefits of share-worthy content, having a social media strategy that goes hand-in-hand with their content, and how to best leverage their existing customer base.

It is nice to have articles such as this one to direct such companies to!